Load supporting device



April 17, 1951 D. A. MURPHY 2,549,116

LOAD SUPPORTING DEVICE Filed Aug. 12, 1946 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 flaws/2y ,4. Mam /n1 INVENTOR.

April 17, 1951 D. A. MURPHY 2,549,115

LOAD SUPPORTING DEVICE Filed Aug. 12', 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 0544:? m4. MuppH y,

INVENTOR.

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Patented Apr. 17, 1951 LOAD SUPPORTING DEVICE Demery A. Murphy, Torrance, Calif., assignor to The National Supply Company, Pittsburgh, Pa... a corporation of Pennsylvania Application August 12, 1946, Serial No. 689,995

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a load supporting device and is particularly directed to an improved form of mountin for a bail of the type employed for supporting very heavy loads. Such a bail mounting may be advantageously employed in connection with rotary swivels and rotary hooks of the type used in oil field well drilling operations.

The conventional form of bail mounting now employed in such well drilling devices commonly utilizes a pair of trunnions extending outwardly from the member to be supported,,and a bail is provided with openings at its lower ends for reception of such trunnions. Such a construction is illustrated in the Morgan Patent No. 1,830,440.

Another form of bail mounting commonly employed in such device is the type shown in the Shaw et al. Patent No. 2,237,715, in which pockets are formed on opposite sides of the member to be supported and adapted to receive the lower ends of the bail member. Transverse pivot pins are then inserted through openings in the lower ends of the bail member to connect the bail to the member provided with the pockets.

The first of these prior art constructions as shown in the Morgan patent has the disadvantage that bending stresses are set up at the point of attachment of the trunnions to the supported member. in order to assemble it over the trunnions and this means that a close fit between the bail openings and the trunnions is not practicable. The other typical construction as shown in the Shaw et al. patent avoids these difi'lculties by providing load-carrying pivot pins which are mounted in double shear. This latter construction however has the disadvantage that it results in an overall width which is reater than necessary and, accordingly, takes up more room in the derrick than is desirable. Furthermore, the difficulties of providing pockets in the supported member for reception of the bail ends involve an expensive casting procedure in order to insure that the stress-carrying walls of the pockets are free from defects.

7. After a bail has become worn from contact with its supporting hook it is often necessaryor desirable to replace the bail, but in the prior art constructions this is not easily accomplished. The Morgan construction requires the new bail to be bent into place, while in the Shaw type side plates which retain the bail pins in place must be cut out with a torchin order to remove the pins.

" It is the principal object of my inventionto'pro- Furthermore, the bail must be bent vide a novel form of bail mounting for a device of this type which is free from the defects enumerated and which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture. Another object is to provide a load-carrying device having a housing for a movable member in which ears are formed integrally on the housing and extend upwardly thereabove for pivotal connection with a bail having bifurcated ends for reception of the ears. Another object is to provide abutment means associated with such ears for limiting the extent of pivotal movement of the bail. Further objects and advantages will appear hereinafter.

In the drawings: 1

Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, of an hydraulic rotary swivel embodying a preferred form of my invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof, also partly in section. 1

Figure 3 is an elevation view of a modified form of bail for use in connection with the device shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Referring to the drawings, the stationary housing l [I is provided with a, central opening I l and an annular shoulder [2. A thrust bearing assembly l3 rests on the shoulder l2 and supports a rotary sleeve M by means of a collar I5 formed integrally thereon. The rotary sleeve 14 projects downwardly through the central opening II and is provided at its lower ends with threads 16 for attachment to a grief stem or Kelly, not shown.

The housing I 0 is provided with an upstanding wall I! which encircles a portion of the rotary sleeve I 4. The upper end of the wall I! terminates in an annular flange l8. Extending above the level of the flange l8 and formedintegrally with the wall H are a pair of supporting ears I 9 and 20 which are provided with axially aligned openings 2|. A bail 22 having depending ends 23 and 24 is adapted to pendently supportthe housing 10. The ends of bails 23 and 24 are each bifurcated by means of central slots or recesses 25 and 26, respectively, and the ears I9 and 20 are adapted to be received within these recesses. Thebifurcated ends 23 and 24 are provided with axially aligned openings 21. The pivot pins 28 and 29 having shoulders 38 on their inner ends are inserted within the openings 2| and 21 to pivotally connect the bail 22 to the housing 10.

Carried on the annular flange I8, and spaced I therefromby means of shims 3|, is a stationary hose supporting member 32. This supporting member 32 is releasably secured to the housing 10 by means of studs 33 carried'on the wall I! and nuts 34 threaded on the studs 33. Secured to the upper end of the support 32 by means of bolts 35 is a gooseneck 36 having threads 31 for attachment to a circulating hose, not shown. A fluid passageway 38 is formed in the goose neck 36 and communicates between the threaded opening 37 and the wash pipe 39 which is secured to the upper end of the rotary sleeve 14. A passageway 40 for mud fluid extends through the wash pipe 39 and rotary sleeve l4. A packing assembly generally designated 4|, is carried on the gooseneck 36 for establishing a rotary seal between the wash pipe 39 and the gooseneck member 36. V

A radial and upthrust bearing 42 is carried on the supporting member 32 and cooperates with theradial bearing 43 below the, main supporting bearing l3 for maintaining the rotary sleeve H in a central position with respect to the housing ill. The support 32 furthermore acts as a closure for the upper end of the housing II] in order to retain oil withinthe housin and to exclude foreign. matter therefrom. The support 32 has another important function in preventing disassembly of the pivot pins 23 and 29; since these pins are shouldered at 30 they cannot move radially outwardly and they are prevented from moving inwardly by the support 32 which is positioned between them.-

As shownc'learlyin' Figure l, the over-all width of the bail 22 and of the housing It! is substantially the same in the area adjacent the pivot to resume rotary drillingoperations, the swivel ball is engaged by a rotary hook, not shown; in order to lift the swivel and Kelly into position for connection with the drill string. In the operation of conne'ctingthe swivel bail to the hook it is highly desirable that the swivel bail be automatically held in suitable position for engagement with the hook. Accordingly, for the purpose of limiting the extent of pivotal movement of the bail in order that the bail shall be in convenient position for connection with the hook, I provide an abutment 44 on each of the upstanding ears l9 and 20 which engages the lower ends of the swivel bail 22. As shown by the dot and dash line in Figure 2, the bail 22 may move counter-clockwise until the abutineiiizfl is engaged by the lower end 23 of the If desired, a bumper bracket 45 may be attached to the housing It! by bolts 43, and provided with resilient cushions 41. The purpose of this device is to provide a resilient bumper for contact with the elevator links, not shown,

which are normally suspended in an inoperative position while the swivel is being used.

The modified form of bail shown in Figure 3 is similar in that the lower bifurcated ends are substantially identical to those shown and described in Figures 1 and 2. This modified form of bail 22 however, is adapted to be suspended from a connector 48 which is in turn supp by conventional elevators of the type .15 9 i withdrawing and reinserting the drill pipe fromthe hole. A recess 49 is provided in the upper end of the bail 22 for reception of the lower end of the connector 48, and a pivot pin 50 serves to connect the bail,22 to the connector 48.

Having fully described my invention, it is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the details herein set forth, but my invention is of the full scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a load supporting device, the combination of a stationary housing, a rotary member supported in the housing, an upwardly extending wall on. the housing encircling a portion of the rotary member, said wall having an annular radial flange disposed coaxially of the rotary member, aclosure for said housing adapted to rest on said flange, a pair of supporting ears formed integrally on said wall extending above said flange, a bail member adapted to pendently support the housing, the lower ends of the bailm-em- :ber overlying a portion of said flange and being bifurcated to receive said supporting ears, and coaxial pivot pins connecting each ear to one of the. bifurcated ends of the bail. 2. Inv a load. supporting device, the combination of a stationary housing having a shoulder-,- a rotary member rotatably supported on the shoulder, said housing having an upwardly extending wall encircling a portion of the rotary member, a pair of supporting ears integrally formed on said wall extending above the upper level of said wall and positioned inwardly of its extreme width, a bail. member adaptedto pendently support the housingythe lower ends of the bail being bifurcated to receive said supporting ears, and means pivotally connecting the bail to said ears, the maximum width of the housing and bail member adjacent the pivot means being substantially thesame to avoid formation of a laterally projecting abutment.

3. In a load supporting device, the combina tion of a stationary housing, a rotary member supported in the housing, said housing having an upwardly extending wall encircling a portion of the rotary member, said wall having anannular tion of said ears, the bail ends overlying a portion of said flange, means pivotally connecting the ends of the bail to said ears, said closure member tion of a stationary housing having a shoulder,-

a rotary member rotatably supported on the shoulder, said housing havingan upwardly extending wall encircling a portion of the rotary member and terminating in an upwardly facing flange, a pair of supporting ears integrally formed on said wall extending above the plane of said flange, a bail member adapted to pendently support the housing, said bail member having bifurcated ends for reception of said ears, the bail ends overlying a portion of said flange, meanspivotally connecting the bail to said ears, a member having a cooperating surface adapted to rest on said flange to provide a closure forsaid hearing housing, said member being positioned. be-

?5 tweensaid supporting ears and adapted .to prevent disassembly of said pivotal connecting means.

5. In a hydraulic rotary swivel, the combination of a stationary housing having a shoulder, a rotary sleeve member rotatably supported on the shoulder and provided with an axial fluid passage, said housing having an upwardly extending wall encircling a portion of the rotary sleeve member and terminating in an upwardly facing flange, a pair of supporting ears integrally formed on said wall extending above the plane of said flange, a bail member adapted to pendently support the housing, said bail member having bifurcated ends for reception of said ears, means pivotally connecting the bail to said ears, a circulating hose support having a cooperating surface adapted to rest on said flange to provide a closure for said bearing housing, said hose support being positioned between said supporting ears and adapted to prevent disassembly of said pivotal connecting means, a fluid passageway associated with the hose support aligned with said axial passage in the sleeve member, and means providing a rotary seal between the hose support and the rotary sleeve member.

6. In a load supporting device, the combination of a stationary housing having a shoulder, a load supporting bearing on said shoulder, a rotary member extending through the housing and supill ported on said bearing, said housing having an upwardly extending wall encircling a portion of the rotary member and terminating in an upwardly facing annular flange, a pair of supporting ears integrally formed on said wall extending above the plane of said flange, a bail member adapted to pendently support the housing, said bail member having bifurcated ends for reception of said ears, the bail ends overlying a portion of said flange, pivot pins adapted to connect the bail to said ears, a support member having a cooperating surface adapted to rest on said flange to provide a closure for said bearing housing, a bearing for said rotary member carried by the support member, said support member being positioned between said supporting ears and adapted to prevent disassembly of said pivot pins.

DEMERY A. MURPHY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,760,224 Wray May 27, 1930 2,237,715 Shaw et a1 Apr. 8, 1941 2,346,380 King -r Apr.. 11, 1944 

